Reinforced protection micro-bunched cable and manufacturing process thereof

Abstract

This application belongs to the field of optical cables and provides a reinforced protection micro-bunched cable and a manufacturing process thereof. The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable includes reinforced protection micro-bunched tubes; the outer surface of the reinforced protection micro-bunched tube is arranged with bumps and there is a gap between bumps. The thickness of the micro-bunched tube wall at the gap between the bumps is still small, and the bump material is softer than the tube body material. The thickness of the micro-bunched tube wall at the gap between the bumps is still small, which can meet the construction requirements of easiness for stripping; the bump can effectively buffer the external force; further, the added bumps can increase the longitudinal tensile properties of the whole tube, and the tube was not easy to be broken under tension.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A reinforced protection micro-bunched cable, comprising a plurality of micro-bunched tubes, each micro-bunched tube filled with an optical fiber and water blocking material, wherein an outer surface of the micro-bunched tube is uniformly arranged with bumps along a circumference of its radial section; a gap is disposed between adjacent bumps; a radius of each bump is same as a thickness of a micro-bunched tube wall; a Shore D hardness of a bump material is smaller than that of a micro-bunched tube wall material; the bumps deform after being stressed until they are depressed into the micro-bunched tube wall with increase of stress; and an inner wall of the micro-bunched tube wall is extruded to form small convex arcs. 
     
     
         2 . The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 1 , wherein the micro-bunched tube has a material of LSZH, TPEE, TPU or polyolefin, a density of 1.05-1.55 g/cm 3 , a tensile strength of 12-18 MPa, and an elongation at break between 120% and 550%. 
     
     
         3 . The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 1 , wherein an optical fiber core is 1-12 in number, the micro-bunched tube wall has a thickness of 0.14±0.04 mm, and the micro-bunched tube has an outer diameter between 0.95 mm and 1.55 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 1 , wherein the bump is hemispherical or pyramidal, and the Shore D hardness of the bump material is 2-3 degrees smaller than that of the micro-bunched tube wall material. 
     
     
         5 . The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 1 , wherein the water blocking material comprises at least one of jelly and water blocking yarn; the jelly comprises a liquid and a thickener; the liquid is at least one of silicone oil and fluorinated oil; the thickener is at least one of silicon dioxide, bentonite, and polytetrafluoroethylene; the water blocking yarn is cotton yarn type. 
     
     
         6 . A reinforced protection micro-bunched cable, comprising an outer sheath, a reinforced layer, a reinforcement, and a cable core, the cable core cladded with the reinforced layer and the outer sheath successively, and the reinforcement symmetrically embedded in an inner wall of the outer sheath; wherein
 an outer wall of the outer sheath is circular, the inner wall of the outer sheath forms an oval inner cavity, a thickness of a short-axis wall of the outer sheath is greater than a thickness of a long-axis wall of the outer sheath, and the reinforcement is embedded in the short-axis wall of the outer sheath;   the reinforced layer fits to the inner cavity of the outer sheath to form an oval outer wall, an inner wall of the reinforced layer forms a circular inner cavity, a thickness of a long-axis wall of the reinforced layer is greater than a thickness of a short-axis wall of the reinforced layer, and addition of the thickness of the long-axis wall of the reinforced layer and the thickness of the long-axis wall of the outer sheath is equal to the sum of the thickness of the short-axis wall of the reinforced layer and the thickness of the short-axis wall of the outer sheath;   the cable core comprises a plurality of micro-bunched tube units comprising a micro-bunched tube, the micro-bunched tube filled with an optical fiber and water blocking material, an outer surface of the micro-bunched tube is uniformly arranged with bumps along a circumference of its radial section, a gap is disposed between adjacent bumps, a radius of each bump is same as a thickness of a micro-bunched tube wall; a Shore D hardness of the bump material is smaller than that of the micro-bunched tube wall material; the bumps deform after being stressed until they are depressed into the micro-bunched tube wall with increase of stress; and an inner wall of the micro-bunched tube wall is extruded to form small convex arcs.   
     
     
         7 . The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 6 , wherein a marking line is arranged at an apex of the long-axis wall of the outer sheath for marking an optimal stripping position. 
     
     
         8 . The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 7 , wherein the long-axis wall of the reinforced layer is provided with a stripping joint corresponding to the marking line. 
     
     
         9 . The reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 8 , wherein the stripping joint provided in the long-axis wall of the reinforced layer is a gap connected by mortise and tenon, or an easy-striping window connected by a flexible material. 
     
     
         10 . A manufacturing process for manufacturing the reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
 in an extrusion process of the micro-bunched tube, choosing a matched extrusion mold and feeding an optical fiber bundle to a head of an extrusion machine, wherein a feedstock for the head comprises two parts: one part being the micro-bunched tube wall material, the other part being the bump material on a surface of the micro-bunched tube wall;   setting an extrusion temperature, wherein a body of the extrusion machine is divided into multiple body temperature zones in a direction from a feed inlet to an entrance of the extrusion mold, a temperature of the multiple body temperature zones increases successively along an extrusion direction from the feed inlet to the entrance of the extrusion mold, and a temperature of the extrusion mold is lower than a temperature of the body of the extrusion machine close to the entrance end of the extrusion mold;   extruding the micro-bunched tube wall and the bumps at the same time using a double-layer co-extrusion process, so as to obtain an integrally-formed micro-bunched tube;   cooling the integrally-formed micro-bunched tube through a cooling water tank, the cooling water tank being divided into a first cooling water tank and a second cooling water tank, wherein a temperature of the first cooling water tank is higher than that of the second cooling water tank, and the integrally-formed micro-bunched tube passes through the first cooling water tank and the second cooling water tank successively.   
     
     
         11 . The manufacturing process for manufacturing the reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 10 , wherein a body temperature of the extrusion machine is set between 170° C. and 190° C. 
     
     
         12 . The manufacturing process for manufacturing the reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 10 , wherein a water temperature of the first cooling water tank is set to 40-50° C., and the water temperature of the second cooling water tank is set to 20-30° C. 
     
     
         13 . A manufacturing process for manufacturing the reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 6 , comprising the steps of:
 in an extrusion process of the micro-bunched tube, choosing a matched extrusion mold and feeding an optical fiber bundle to a head of an extrusion machine, wherein a feedstock for the head comprises two parts: one part being the micro-bunched tube wall material, the other part being the bump material on a surface of the micro-bunched tube wall;   setting an extrusion temperature, wherein a body of the extrusion machine is divided into multiple body temperature zones in a direction from a feed inlet to an entrance of the extrusion mold, a temperature of the multiple body temperature zones increases successively along an extrusion direction from the feed inlet to the entrance of the extrusion mold, and an entrance temperature of the extrusion mold is lower than a temperature of the body of the extrusion machine close to the entrance end of the extrusion mold;   extruding the micro-bunched tube wall and the bumps at the same time using a double-layer co-extrusion process, so as to obtain an integrally-formed micro-bunched tube;   cooling the integrally-formed micro-bunched tube through a cooling water tank, the cooling water tank being divided into a first cooling water tank and a second cooling water tank, wherein a temperature of the first cooling water tank is higher than that of the second cooling water tank, and the integrally-formed micro-bunched tube passes through the first cooling water tank and the second cooling water tank successively.   
     
     
         14 . The manufacturing process for manufacturing the reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 13 , wherein a body temperature of the extrusion machine is set between 170° C. and 190° C. 
     
     
         15 . The manufacturing process for manufacturing the reinforced protection micro-bunched cable according to  claim 13 , wherein a water temperature of the first cooling water tank is set to 40-50° C., and the water temperature of the second cooling water tank is set to 20-30° C.